Help 22 girls in Niger have a safe place to sleep

On March 7th, 2023 a fundraising project finalized the building of a dorm in Niger that will house 22 girls. I, and others, will be going to see the dorm and want to raise enough money before we return to buy bunkbeds for the girls. We need $1,700 to pay for the bunkbeds and more to cover the cost of beds/sheets/etc.

All monies raised will go directly to the funding of this project.

The completed dorm:

The backstory:

I've had the honor to visit the country of Niger on three separate occasions. Each time, I've been humbled by the graciousness and resiliency of the people I meet. On my second trip, myself and some friends were introduced to the Oumar Bello Barkire Orphanage. From the moment we arrived, the children stole our hearts. They yearn for physical touch and when one child takes a particular affinity for you, they don't leave your side the entire time.

The first trip we brought toys and beads for jewelry making. We provided the orphanage with rice to help feed the children. During that visit, we learned how much the children were fascinated by our watches and we spent days looking for them around the city before we went back. Seeing their faces light up with these small tokens is indescribable.

During my second trip, I was walking around the grounds with the Director and the rest of our group. We saw the impact a dedicated group had made in drastically improving the living quarters for the boys. With the direction and generosity of a few people, they were able to provide them with new beds and bedding. The dark and dingy space had become a bright and welcoming room for them to sleep at night.

As I walked around, I couldn't shake the deep sense of knowing that "we know good people who can help make an impact here". I said to another person in our group, "We can do this. We can do something much bigger here."

We decided to take up a collection to help cover school costs for the children and the fundraising took off. It was enough for us to work with the orphanage to cover the start of building a dorm to house 20 girls. The orphanage currently provides education and meals for 253 children although only 20 boys have lodging on the grounds. The Director has had a vision to provide housing for the girls too and we decided to help make this happen.